Fewer people were driving when Hurricane Isaias came ashore on the Gulf Coast, but the drivers who were out leaned harder on local radio. That is the finding of an in-car listening analysis from the Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group, built on DTS AutoStage data covering AM/FM tuning in vehicles.
In Mobile, in-car tuning occasions on landfall day, Friday, October 9, came in 55% under the four-week baseline: 16,609 sessions compared with a baseline of 36,665. Saturday was 37% below baseline and Sunday 4% below. The Friday figures cover six Cumulus stations; the weekend figures cover three. Listening actually ran above baseline Friday from 9a to 11a, which the presentation linked to last-minute shopping and people driving to safety. Traffic had climbed back to 77% of historical levels by 3p Saturday, though Saturday night tuning was still down 44%. Sunday morning occasions reached 86% of historical levels, and listening from noon to midnight recovered to 98%.
Share moved the other way. In Mobile it rose to 62% on landfall day from 48% on a typical day, a 30% increase. In Pensacola, Cumulus held a 45% share on both Saturday and Sunday, against 23% on a typical day, which the group put at a 95% gain for the storm weekend. In Panama City, four Christian stations, WayFM, K-LOVE, Family Life and JOY FM, combined for a 25.14% share for the week of October 5 to 11, compared with 19.64% for September 14 to 20 and 27.38% the week before. News/Talk WSB in Atlanta reached its highest share and cume of the four weeks tracked during its storm coverage, with average quarter-hour share rising to 6.62% from 6.27% and weekly cume to 10.46% from 9.98%.
The numbers arrive as supporters of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act press their public safety argument. The House passed the bill, H.R. 979, by voice vote on September 16 with 317 co-sponsors. The Senate version, S. 315, has sat on the Legislative Calendar since the Commerce Committee approved it in April 2025. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said he hopes it passes by unanimous consent and otherwise expects it to be carried on end-of-year legislation.
The data adds to a case the industry has been making for months. In September, Xperi's Jeff Jury argued that car radio stays a dependable way to reach people with alerts when cell service goes down in a disaster.